Ah ha! A metal band from Italy that doesn't want to be Labyrinth! Christ on a bike. I knew there was one somewhere. I'm not gonna lie to you: things looked pretty promising with this one. Mystic cover art, intriguing band name, awesome album title, obvious Iron Maiden worship; what more could a melodic metal fan ask for? Well, apparently a jaw-dropping album, something Italian Power Metallers Clairvoyants forgot to deliver.

Rooted in their previous incarnation as one of Italy's premier Maiden cover acts, Word to the Wise, Clairvoyants' cagey debut, offers the duel-harmony Maiden-isms to such an extent it would make Steel Prophet blush. Only with no real resemblance to the Heavy Metal grandfathers in anything but the guitar work, it quickly becomes apparent that Clairvoyants see themselves rather differently through their perhaps rose-tinted crystal ball. There is a strong US-styled metal vein pumping blood throughout tracks like "The Lone" and the fierce "Sheer Hate" that recalls modern Jag Panzer to an extent, Finnish flamers Machine Men to another. With opener "Journey Through The Stars", Clairvoyants have produced one of my favorite songs of the year, and its luscious bounty of glossy riffing and hook-laden vocals has spent little time away from my playlist. But the album as a whole fails to live up to its initial majesty, leaving tracks such as "The Pain of Sight" and the excruciatingly meager ballad "Closure" to simply fall on deaf ears.

A warm, not overstated production helps ease the listener into some of the obscure tricks the Italians play during those tricky middle sections – not to mention the well-sung but otherwise pointless cover of "Hallowed Be Thy Name" which brings the album to a meandering halt – but otherwise, their transformation from pub cover band into original entity has been a smooth and worthwhile exercise. One to watch.